Helpful. Also scary. Still a nice Halloween read.

Phew! This is a fantastic book but I am so glad to be done with it and move on to another book. It is incredibly long but that is just because it is so thorough! I just love this series! Any question you can think to ask about parenting is usually covered in these books. This will be a great reference book once our son comes into the picture!

As a FTM, I can't say I know much about babies aside from my own maternal instinct. I think this is a helpful reference and resource when (and if) you have spare time to read and want to brush up on simple subjects like baby's expected milestones and age behaviors. There's so much information online that it can be nice to have something physically in your hand to review, but it's so important to remember that this book doesn't get everything right either. All babies are incredibly unique so a lot of this information should be considered on a case-by-case basis and studied with caution.

I'm not even halfway through the book, and possibly one of the most harmful recommendations Heidi has presented so far (which my husband actually pointed out) was on page 139 ("Sleeping through meals") where she recommends, "Choose the right sleep to wake him from. Baby will be much more easily roused during active, or REM, sleep". Sure, it may be true that baby is more easily roused during that sleep stage, but I'm not sure how Heidi could rightfully suggest this when she mentions on page 141 under 'Active Sleep' that this specific phase is when a lot of brain development is going on, further stating that "experts believe the brain uses this time to learn and process information acquired while awake". Therefore, wouldn't it be severely unwise, irrational, and even detrimental to wake baby up during REM?

While this book is a 'best-seller', this type of information makes me question Heidi's credibility. You can easily search and find some pretty negative articles written by others about their personal experiences with the book. With that said, my hope in writing this review isn't to bash the 'What to Expect' series, as it can still serve as a saving grace for really inexperienced and expecting parents, but to encourage (particularly, first-time moms) others to do their own research before using this as a complete source of truth.

Read what was useful and needed. Going well for now

Save your sanity! DO NOT READ THIS BOOK.

Go buy something by Dr. Sears instead.

5/5 for content, 1/5 for organization.

What to Expect the First Year offers conventional wisdom on a wide range of parenting topics. As an ignorant first-time parent, I learned many things from both the hardcover and the audiobook.

The organization is frustrating in the physical book and downright infuriating in the audiobook. Each chapter covers one month of your baby's life. This approach makes sense in the beginning, when a newborn has different needs from a one-month-old. It becomes tedious as much of the content is repeated in each of the later chapters. The book ends with chapters on special circumstances that can happen after birth, which means that I read the chapter about the NICU months after my daughter was discharged from the NICU.

كتاب رائع و فيه الكثير من المعلومات المفيدة، بل تقريباً يغطي كل شيء الوالدين بحاجة لمعرفته لطفلهم

الكتاب طويل لكن ممتع و مفيد و لكل شهر من عمر الطفل له فصل خاص

و في نهاية الكتاب عدة فصول مختلفة ذات أهمية كذلك

Thank you Murkoff for this great book!

Не съм изключително впечатлена от книгата. Честно казано информацията за голяма част от нещата беше изключително повърхностна и крайно недостатъчна, ако имаш такъв проблем. За част от въпросите засягащи вече поотрасналото дете и неговото възпитание имаше интересни съвети и методи за действие. Все пак втори път не бих си купила книгата и определено няма да си купя следващата за втората и третата година на детето.
Предвид факта, че книгата е писана от американци е ясно, че представя тяхната реалност, именно затова и голяма част от съветите не са актуални и приложими у нас. Още повече, че американките рядко отглеждат сами децата си до 2 години. В повечето случаи ги гледат първите месеци и ги дават на ясла или викат бавачки, нещо което малко родители правят в България. Т.е. голяма част от книгата разглежда този и други сходни въпроси.

A book of the ages. Before all the tech savvy and digitisation came into picture, I suppose this was the go to book for parents. A mist have book if you want the old school type of reading unlike the digital platforms today.
The book has tried and tested methods of what to expect in the first year of raising a child. One definitely resonates with the authors learnings. It has monthly events, discussions on every aspect of a child’s development.
How to take care of child, how to teach them, procedures to use in case of emergencies, reactions and retaliations to expect from babies, identifying their growth stages, start to finish, likes, dislikes - how to identify them change them,etc.

This book has it all. A must have shelf book for new first time parents especially.

Please note while reading the book, every baby has its own ways and stages of growth and the book is to be used to gain knowledge that we would be obliviously to otherwise.
Use the book as a skeleton guide or a journey road map for the child and NOT as a compulsory way of a child’s progress. Each child is unique.

This is pretty useful. I wish they had a bit more about starting solids. There was a lot for breastfeeding moms, which I'm not, so I didn't get much from that. Wish there was more about ideas for things to do throughout the day with your baby during various stages. (I found an app for that, Baby Sparks).
The health section was useful, although I'm the type to just mostly go for whatever the doctor says and trust that it's nice to have a source. Some of its great for before you go and first aid.
I'd live to have the travel section expanded in a future book. We had trouble getting our little one to adjust to sleeping in her pack and play on trips, it was a hassle. Even buying a travel mattress for it didn't really help. Would love some tips. Also ideas for what to put in a diaper bag on walks, day trips, week long etc. Pack list ideas.
Overall very useful. Good to have around and refer to. Great to give to a new mom who wants something to give her some guidance.

A well meaning book but some of the advice is really strayed. It’s says some harmful things for instance about breastfeeding, like assuming you can’t (or it’s incredibly difficult to) build your milk supply after the first week, that you can’t (or it’s incredibly difficult to) switch from mixed feeding to exclusive bf (“Every bottle you give cuts time off your breastfeeding journey,” but in a later chapter “Waiting for this long to introduce a bottle has turned the odds against you — it should be no later than 6 weeks.”) All in all, I felt it was a book that was trying to be just and unbiased, but time and again there were signs of the author inserting personal experience (which is not necessarily a standard experience). I also disagreed with a lot of the medical explanations of things. I understand not everyone reading will agree but my mom bought it for me as a Bible of all things baby and I feel like it gave me greater harm than good. And luckily we live in an age where we can get tons of tips and information from the internet, no reason to buy a baby Bible which only highlights one (or a select number of) persons’ experience.

O carte densa in informatii, cu foarte multe detalii, motiv pentru care la un moment dat devine cumva agasanta si usor plictisitoare. Insa mi-a facut placere sa o citesc si, la final, ma simt semnificativ mai pregatit si sunt curios sa trec la urmatorul volum.

Mi se pare o carte care ar trebui citita de cel putin unul dintre parinti, daca nu de amandoi, care contine elementele standard despre nastere si ingrijirea unui bebelus din State, acceptate stiintific in acest moment. Sunt discutate si diverse optiuni care inca nu sunt validate stiintific sau sunt discutabile.

Sunt convins ca ne va fi utila cartea si sa ne linistim sau sa ne aducem aminte unele lucruri pe masura ce vom intampina diverse probleme in primul an al bebelusului. Speram sa fie putine momentele acestea, dar este bine sa stii unde sa cauti o informatie corecta si actuala.

Sotia mea a folosit si aplicatia What to Expect, asa ca am vazut si clipurile saptamanale facute de Heidi Murkoff, care sunt foarte scurte si dragute. Aplicatia te si conecteaza cu alte mamici care nasc in aceeasi perioada ca tine si se formeaza un fel de comunitate. Chiar daca nu participi activ, discutiile pot fi de ajutor in unele momente din timpul sarcinii si probabil si dupa aceea.